But what are you going to do about school?!!!!

“But what are you going to do about school?!!!!” Since we announced our travel plans in December, we have had to answer this question, a lot! Yes, we will be on the road during the school year. Yes, our son will miss at least part of the third grade.

We will be home schooling while traveling. More correctly, as we will be without a “home,” we will be road schooling, or world schooling, whichever term you prefer. How exactly do we do this? It seems to be surprisingly easy. In Missouri, if our child was enrolled in a public school, we would have to notify the school district of our intent to home school. Since, the boy was in a private school, all we have to do is keep a record of our lesson plans and sample work to show if we intend to enroll in public school in the future. There are some subjects we must make sure we cover, but the third grade curriculum doesn’t look too daunting. The boy can already meet most of the standards. Here are the relevant state laws: http://hslda.org/hs/state/MO/default.asp

This means I’ve been reading up on home schooling. Most of the beginner’s guides to homeschooling sites recommend choosing an educational philosophy, of which there are many! While I don’t think I am comfortable with full-on un-schooling, we will not be signing up for the online distance learning curriculum for school at home, either. I am not sure our internet access will be consistent enough, nor do I want to commit to five and six hours on a computer when there is so much to see off the screen. We bought some Singapore Math workbooks, and a 3rd Grade Language arts workbook. We will work on travel journal and postcard writing to keep up with his handwriting and spelling skills. Geography and Social Studies should be easy to cover with hands on map reading and cultural exchange. Science? We will be checking out all the science museums and nature centers along the way. My biggest concern, so far, is how we will handle the routine, to make sure we actually get the work done.